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How to report a suspected breach of farming rules or fraud

Published 19 June 2026

Applies to England

© Crown copyright 2026

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This publication is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/report-a-suspected-breach-of-farming-rules-or-fraud/how-to-report-a-suspected-breach-of-farming-rules-or-fraud

Use this guidance to help you complete the ‘Report a suspected breach of farming rules or fraud’ form.

Why you should report suspicious farming activity

Your information could help the Rural Payments Agency (RPA) to:

  • protect public and animal health
  • protect the environment
  • prevent fraudulent use of public money

We will analyse the information and intelligence we receive to identify, understand and prevent breaches to farming rules.

We may share the information you provide with regulatory enforcement or investigation teams if necessary.

What you can report

You can select one of the following options:

  1. Livestock (cattle, sheep or goats) traceability issue.
  2. Suspicion of fraud.
  3. Other breach of RPA scheme rules.

You’ll need to provide:

  • details of the issue
  • your name and email address
  • name of the person or company you are reporting on
  • address or location of the issue
  • contact details of the person or company you are reporting on, if known
  • any unique identifiers for the farm or business, if known

You can upload up to 10 documents to support your report. If you have more than 10 documents, send them separately to the RPA.

Option 1: Livestock (cattle, sheep or goats) traceability issue

Use this option if you suspect illegal tagging or movement of cattle, sheep or goats.

Contact the Animal & Plant Health Agency to report any welfare issues.

Option 2: Suspicion of fraud 

Use this option to report suspected fraud of a farming grant or scheme.

Provide as much information as possible and include which farming grant or scheme may be affected (if you know).

Option 3: Other breach of RPA scheme rules

Use this option to report any suspected breaches of RPA-funded scheme rules. You can also report an issue that is not covered by options 1 or 2.

You’ll need to tell us:

  • how you know about this issue
  • when you first noticed this issue
  • how long this issue has been going on, to the best of your knowledge
  • who is responsible for this issue occurring, if known

How we use your information

We consider all relevant information before deciding how to act. This will depend on:

  • departmental priorities
  • the level of risk related to your report

We will not contact you unless we need further details. We are not able to provide updates on any progress or actions taken.

Contact details

If you have a general query, use the query form in the Rural Payments service.

You can also contact us for other queries such as:

  • freedom of information requests
  • derogation requests
  • derogation notifications

We will treat all personal information in line with our personal information charter and privacy notices.

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